Tuesday, 23 September 2014

CAF maintains Ebola measures

Africa's football governing body, Confederation of African Football (CAF) has vehemently denied media reports claiming it has lifted ban on three countries where deadly Ebola outbreak was detected.

The three countries that CAF banned from hosting home games comprise Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In a statement on Tuesday, CAF, said sharply disputed ever lifting the ban on the three countries in question. “Contrary to recent false claims disseminated by a section of the media, to create the impression that the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) has granted Guinea the green- light to host matches at home; CAF wishes to affirm that the circular dated 12 August 2014 which stated that Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone cannot host matches on their territories due to the Ebola outbreak still holds.

“It was mentioned in the circular that a new assessment of the situation will be discussed in mid-September 2014 in consultation with the World Health Organization and the CAF Medical Committee,” the CAF statement reads.Ebola has infected at least 5,357 people in West Africa this year, mainly in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, killing 2,630 of those, according to the World Health Organisation. The disease has also been reported in Nigeria and Senegal but these two countries have not been banned from holding games by CAF.